"Two months ago, I was all-in on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix" ... Retail investors look for the next big stock, with KEPCO and Doosan Enerbility as 'probe stocks' [World of Retail Investors]

[Financial News] #. In the first half of this year, office worker A bought only Samsung Electronics and SK hynix shares for his stock account. As semiconductor stocks led the market, interest in the two names grew, and the KOSPI was living in the era of 'Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.' But recently, other stocks have started to appear one by one in A's portfolio. A explained, "Samsung Electronics and SK hynix seem to have already peaked, and now it feels important to send probe stocks beyond the big semiconductor names to see which stocks could become the next market leaders."

A small shift is emerging in the list of domestic stocks bought by individual investors, which had been dominated by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. According to data from the Korea Exchange on the 21st, an analysis of the top net-buying stocks by individual investors over different periods showed that in June, when the market rally was nearing its end, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix accounted for 70.5% of the total net purchases among the top 20 net-bought stocks.
The top 20 net-bought stocks by individuals in June recorded a combined 4.6462 trillion won in net purchases. Of that amount, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix posted 171.19 billion won and 156.33 billion won, respectively. In July, when the KOSPI swung between rebounds and sharp drops like a roller coaster, total net purchases by individuals fell to 1.6532 trillion won, but SK hynix at 901 billion won and Samsung Electronics at 504.7 billion won still accounted for 85% of the total.
However, in August, the share of net purchases by individual investors in the two stocks fell to 43.7%. As of the 20th, total net purchases among the top 20 stocks bought by individuals stood at 620.4 billion won. Of that, SK hynix accounted for 188.3 billion won and Samsung Electronics for 82.6 billion won, bringing the combined total to just 270.1 billion won. This is why analysts say retail investors are no longer concentrating only on large semiconductor stocks and are instead spreading their buying interest across other names.

In particular, stocks outside the large semiconductor names have been appearing one after another among the top net-bought names in August. KEPCO recorded net purchases of about 19 billion won, Doosan Enerbility 12.2 billion won, KB Financial Group 10.2 billion won, LS Group 7.4 billion won, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries about 6.6 billion won. Semiconductor-related names such as Jeju Semiconductor, TES, TAIHAN Fiberoptics, and VM, as well as JYP Entertainment Corporation and HYBE, also made it into the top 20 net-bought stocks.
If June's top net-bought list was effectively split between Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, August suggests that investors have begun adding a wider range of stocks, including power, energy, shipbuilding, finance, and IT components, alongside the two semiconductor giants.
This trend also partly matches recent market analysis. According to a Kiwoom Securities report released on the 21st, second-quarter operating profit for the KOSPI came in 4.1% above consensus, and earnings improvement momentum has recently been spreading to sectors outside semiconductors over the past month.


Looking at the third-quarter earnings revision ratio, transportation improved by 25.5 percentage points over the past month, followed by IT hardware at 21.1 percentage points, construction and building-related sectors at 19.8 percentage points, nonferrous metals and wood at 18.8 percentage points, machinery at 15.1 percentage points, and energy at 10.8 percentage points.
Regarding this, Kiwoom Securities researcher Choi Jae-won said, "The clearest feature of second-quarter earnings was that the surge in oil and raw material prices caused by the Middle East conflict produced sharply different results across sectors." He added, "Energy, IT home appliances, and chemical sectors, which were able to pass higher costs on to prices, posted clear earnings surprises thanks to wider refining margins and inventory valuation gains."
He noted that in transportation, strong sea freight rates continued as detours lengthened due to geopolitical risks from the Middle East. For IT hardware, he pointed to rising demand for server components driven by expanded investment in AI data centers. He also said machinery benefited from increased semiconductor facility investment, while energy was helped by refining margin gains and inventory valuation effects.
By contrast, although semiconductors posted the largest absolute profits on record, he said the sector's results merely met consensus because market expectations were already high, which weakened the overall strength of earnings surprises in the stock market compared with the first quarter. For that reason, he assessed the second-quarter earnings season as not having led to a major upward revision in overall market earnings forecasts. Still, he said the recent trend in third-quarter estimate revisions shows earnings momentum spreading beyond semiconductors, and he viewed that positively.
If expectations for earnings improvement spread to other sectors in a market that has risen mainly on semiconductors, retail investors may also broaden their buying targets. Choi added, "As structural growth related to AI continues and earnings momentum spreads beyond the semiconductor-heavy concentration, this is a time to pay attention to sector diversification and rotation."

[email protected] Kim Hee-sun Reporter